TEHRAN – The human injection of the homegrown COVID-19 vaccine will be started in the Iranian calendar month of Khordad (May 22-June 21, 2021).

It is scheduled to start the third phase of human injection in the Iranian calendar month of Ordibehest (April 21- May 21, 2021), and we will probably start phases one and two before the end of this [Iranian calendar] year (March 21, 2021), Mostafa Ghane'ei, an official with the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology said. 

Once the vaccine is made, it can be used by everyone, but it is noteworthy that no vaccine is 100 percent effective, as the flu vaccine is 60 percent effective or the tuberculosis vaccine is much less effective, he noted.

Referring to the price of the vaccine for Iranians, he said that the “Chinese vaccine with the lowest price will be about $12, but the homegrown vaccine will cost about $7.”

Iraj Harirchi, the deputy minister of health said that in Iran, 12 groups are making efforts to develop coronavirus vaccine, three of which have passed the animal testing.

Last week, Health Minister Saeed Namaki expressed hope that the country will introduce the home-grown COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2021).

Due to the high prevalence of the disease, the National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control has approved to impose strict restrictions for 10 days as of Wednesday in 46 cities that have the highest rate of COVID-19 infection in the country.

Officials at the Medical Council have written a letter to President Hassan Rouhani that the deplorable condition of the pandemic in the country, and rising number of mortalities and new cases, requires a more serious review of the management methods of this crisis.

COVID-19 cases, toll at high record

In a press briefing on Friday, Health Ministry spokesperson Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 11,737 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 738,322. She added that 546,642 patients have so far recovered, but 5,630 still remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, coronavirus daily deaths and new cases hit the record high, as 461 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 40,582, she added.
Lari noted that so far 5,424,479 COVID-19 tests have been conducted across the country. She said the high-risk “red” zones include provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, East Azarbaijan, South Khorasan, Semnan, Qazvin, Lorestan, Ardebil, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad,

Gilan, Bushehr, Zanjan, Ilam, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, Alborz, West Azarbaijan, Markazi, Kerman, North Khorasan, Hamedan, Yazd, and Kordestan.

The provinces of Hormozgan, Fars, and Golestan and Sistan-Baluchestan are also on alert.

FB/MG